


Alice

by JustPlainJennie



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-23
Updated: 2013-04-23
Packaged: 2017-12-09 07:48:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/771782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustPlainJennie/pseuds/JustPlainJennie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The full story behind Alice and Sam.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alice

**Author's Note:**

> Zombies, Run! Belongs to Six to Start and Naomi Alderman. Many, many thanks to my beta, Andrea (thischarmingand).

The cameras were down again. He hated when the cameras were down. Sam anxiously tapped his fingers on the desk as he switched between watching Runner Five’s blip on his scanner and glancing over at Janine, who was attempting to get the cameras back on.

“Your giving me that look, Mr Yao, is not going to fix these cameras any faster,” Janine twisted a few wires together carefully.

“I wasn’t-I just-” his heart began racing faster as heard distinct moaning from Alice’s headset, “Runner Five, say what you see!” he tried to keep the panic from his voice, but he wasn’t sure how successful he was.

“I’ve only risked a quick glance back, Sam, but,” she paused for breath. It wasn’t a good sign if she was out of breath, “I’ve got a couple of sprinters on my tail.” Sam couldn’t help but look over at Janine again, mentally pleading with her to hurry up. The glare she gave told him to back off.

“Right, well, won’t be the first sprinter you’ve had. Unlucky for them, we’ve got The Flash as our runner.”

“Yeah, well,” she took a breath, “two years running long distance for Loughborough came in surprisingly handy.” He watched as her red blip increased its speed. There was a flicker and a buzz of electricity, and then he could see her. And he could see the nearest sprinter, no more than two metres behind her.

“Okay, ah, yep, you were right: two sprinters. Don’t panic.”

“Who’s panicking, Mr Yao?” Janine was now up and watching the screens too, “Runner Five, the recent heavy rain might be to your advantage. Do you see that hill just north of you?”

“I see it.”

“If you make your way there, you can take the grassy path. With any luck the zombs will have trouble navigating around the muddy patches.”

Sam didn’t like this, but he didn’t have a better plan, “Just make sure you don’t get caught in the mud too, Alice.”

He began tapping his fingers again as he watched her climb the hill. He told her she was keeping a good pace, and maintaining a relatively safe distance between her and the nearest zomb. The moaning and growling of the chasing undead gave him a serious case of the creeps; he could only imagine what it must have done to her.

About ten metres up the hill she had her first bit of luck, the closest sprinter fell and there was a loud snap from what could have been him breaking a bone. “Yes! Alright, Five, one threat minimised, now just keep outpacing the other.”

She had to zigzag up the hill to avoid muddy patches and the other sprinter was gaining on her. The corpse wobbled a bit, but kept coming. Even with all her training, Alice was struggling to maintain her pace as she ran up the hill.

“You’re doing well, Runner Five,” Janine praised.

He hated when she did that. Encouragement was his job. “Hey! Uh, yeah, keep-” before he could finish, the unthinkable happened. She must have hit a slippery bit, because one minute she was running and the next she was on the ground. He wanted to close his eyes, but somehow he was compelled to watch as the sprinter approached her.

She hadn’t survived this long by being easy prey, though. Quickly, she rolled onto her back and brought her hockey stick up over her head, waiting for the precisely right moment and THWAK! She made a large dent in the corpse’s forehead, and it to crumpled to the ground. Sam sighed and swallowed the terror that had crept up into his throat, “Well-” he swallowed again, “well done Runner Five. I think that’s enough brutality for one mission.”

She was walking back down the way she came, “Uh, hey, uh there’s still that other sprinter down there.” He looked at Janine for confirmation, and she nodded.

“Don’t worry,” she was running down the hill now, raising her stick above her head, “I got it.” He could hear the fallen sprinter moaning as it crawled toward her. It had probably broken a leg when it fell.

Janine didn’t seem too comfortable with this either, “Runner Five, be care-” Alice's hockey stick swung down to meet the zombie’s head with a crunch, “-ful.”

“Can I come back to Abel now? I’ve got a sack full of canned food that I’d like to unload on you.” Her voice was surprisingly cheerful over the speakers.

Looking at the screen for any more signs of zombies Sam said, “Yeah...yeah. Good work, Five.”

As she started her run back, Janine began to scold her, “Runner Five, that kind of reckless behaviour is not acceptable. You know escape is your first priority when encountering a sprinter.”

“Sorry, Janine,” she had caught her breath now, and was moving at a steady pace, “but from my vantage point it wasn’t a sprinter anymore.”

“Right, so when encountering a crawler there is also proper procedure in termination. Waiting until it leaps and terminating after it lands.” She looked to Sam for reinforcement.

“Well, it is dead, Janine. She eliminated the threat, as you say.”

“That’s not the point, Mr Yao. Procedures are in places for safety. This time it worked, but another time it may not. We go with what we know to be the safest means of termination.”

“Okay, Janine, you win. Next time I encounter a zomb I’ll check the field guide before I engage.” Sam had to chuckle at that.

Janine’s eyes were tight now, and her lips were pursed, “The point is, Miss Dempsey, you should have the field guide memorised by now.”

He heard Alice sigh through the speakers, “Look, all I can say is, I’ll do my best with what I’m given. The field guide’s well and good in a lab situation, but I’m actually out here, being chased by the undead. As long as I’m still alive, I’ve done my job right.”

“Then, Mr Yao,” she turned to him, “I suggest you continue to do your job and keep her out of trouble.”

“Hey! I do my job!” She had some nerve implying that he didn’t. He cared about his runners much more than she ever would, with her clinical attitude and condescending smirk, “You-I-I’m not going to let anything happen to her, or any of the other runners.”

With her hand on her hip and her raised eyebrows, she wasn’t making Sam any less angry, “You would have said the same thing about the old Runner Five.”

He floundered for something to say, some comeback that would put her in her place and show her how cruel she was being. All he managed to do was gape at her until he heard Alice’s voice over the speaker, “Janine, I think you’ve made your point. We’ll all be careful, and do exactly as you say, and everything will turn out perfectly, right?”

“No, that’s-”

“No? Well then, let us do our jobs.” It was Janine’s turn to search for words, and Sam was grinning.

As Alice approached Abel, Sam broke the silence with, “Raise the gates!”

Without saying goodbye, Janine stalked out of the room. She wasn’t used to being told what to do, and Sam was willing to bet she didn’t like it. He wrote up the mission log, and was just looking for a jar of marmite he had left somewhere when Alice opened the door to the comms shack and stepped inside.

She greeted him with a, “Y’alright?”

Her slender frame was covered in gore and Sam did his best not to gag, “Yeah, you?”

“Fine,” she paused for a moment, looking him up and down. “You sure you’re alright? You’re looking a bit,” she cocked her head to the side, “green.”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind not having my exit blocked by a woman covered in brains. I’m picky though.”

She gave him a warm smile, “Point taken. See you later, Sam.”

“Bye, Alice,” he watched as she left, long brown plait swinging behind her. Her entire backside was covered in mud and her hair had red on it. She would have been attractive if not for being painted in zombie guts.

 

 

The next time he saw her she was chatting with Eugene and Jack in the recc area before her run, with her headset around her neck. One of them must have said something hilarious because she was holding her sides from laughter. They waved Sam over when they saw him, still grinning from the reaction they got from Alice. After they exchanged greetings he asked what was so funny.

“I was just telling Alice about the time-” Eugene began.

“He was telling a very embarrassing and graphic story involving glittery hand cream.” Jack finished, and started Alice on a whole new fit of giggles.

Sam furrowed his brow. Did he want to know? Probably not. He turned to Alice, “Ready for your run this afternoon?”

Wiping tears from her eyes she croaked, “Yep.” Alice looked a lot better now that she had cleaned off. He wondered if she knew how flattering her vest and jogging bottoms were, or if she simply found the tight clothing comfortable to run in. “Just going to warm up with a little jog before I head out there. See you later, Jack, Eugene.” She started jogging off and as an after-thought she said, “Catch you on the headset, Sam!”

He turned to the pair, “Do I want to know?” they both shook their heads vehemently, but Eugene had a cheeky grin on his face.

“Right, well, I’m going to continue on to the comms shack then. See you two later?”

The air was crisp and he ran his fingers through his hair as he wondered how the runners could stand wearing so little in this weather. Guess when you’re being chased by the undead you don’t want to be hindered by excess clothing. He shoved his hands in pockets and ducked his head to keep the falling rain from his eyes.

When Sam got to the comms shack he switched on the monitors and was pleased to see the cameras were functional. No zombs by the gates, good, but a handful between Abel and the chemist’s where he was going to send Alice. He was planning her route when he heard a cheerful, “Hey, Sam!” over his speakers.

“Hi-ya, Alice,” he checked to make sure she was in place, “Raise the gates!” he heard the alarm blaring, Werrrp! Werrrp! Werrrp! Werrrp! “Runner Five, ready?”

“Ready.”

“Covering fire,” he waited to hear the sounds of guns firing at a few zombs that had wandered nearer since he last checked, “and go!” He watched for a moment as she took off at a steady pace, “So, eh, just a typical supply run today, Five. The Doc needs some first-aid bits: gauze, plasters, antiseptic,” he paused to look over the list she had given him, “cuts and bruises type stuff.”

“Sounds simple enough.”

“Yeah-yeah nothing too complicated. Thing is, though, you’ll have to go to a relatively populated area to get it. Just a village, mind you, but it could still be dangerous.” He glanced at the red light representing her on his scanner, “Head east.”

He saw her turning and she said, “I laugh in the face of danger,” and gave an exaggerated, “ha, ha, ha, ha!”

Did she just quote The Lion King? “Yeah, well, even if it’s your middle name, I’m still thinking it’s a good idea to keep that hockey stick handy.” He saw a couple of zombies shambling to her south, “Head a bit further north.” She did as she was told.

She was running along in silence, like most runners did. He hated silence. She probably didn’t want to waste her energy talking, but he liked to hear a runner’s voice. It reassured him that she was still alive and not grey. “So, Five, two years of long distance running at Loughborough, eh? Good sports uni,” Lame. So lame. “What were you studying?”

“Sports Science and Physics,” she was never very chatty on runs. Come to think of it, he had never really chatted much with her out of runs, either.

“Physics, eh? I was, eh, I was studying engineering.” There was more silence from her end. Luckily, it didn’t look like the zombies to the south had seen her. “Going to build things, or something. I think-I think I’m better at what I’m doing now.”

He just heard her breathing for a moment before she spoke, “You’re better at,” she paused a moment, “leading runners to supplies and keeping them safe from zombies?” she made it sound ridiculous.

“I-eh-yep. Better at that.” 

“You probably should have studied that instead.” He tried and failed to stifle a laugh, and found himself questioning if it was meant to be a joke. Relief flooded over him when he heard her chuckling over the speakers. 

“What do you think the lectures would be like?” He saw another few zombies, “Head a bit more south-east now.”

As she turned she said, “Advanced Zombie Evasion.”

“Would there be a practical exam?” he asked through fits of laughter.

“Of course. Freshers could play the zombies.”

“That’d be more of a course for you though. How about,” he chewed his lip for a moment, “Creative Talking Bollocks.”

She was giggling now, “What an image!”

Shaking with controlled laughter, he looked at his screen, “Uh, okay, so,” Time to get serious. Looking for the safest route suddenly became more difficult, “not to scare you, but you need to head south, now. Run!”

“I thought you said to head north!”

“Yes, well, things change. There-there’s two to the southwest and,” he didn’t want to scare her, “more than two to the north and east.”

“How many more?”

“Don’t worry about it now. You can come around to the chemist’s from the south and I’ll take you around that southern group on the way back,” he swallowed the lump in his throat, “no problem.”

She muttered something, but he wasn’t able to catch it.

The zombies to the south were turning towards her, “Um, pick up the pace a bit.” There was more mumbling from her end. “You should be able to see the chemist’s now. Nothing fancy, just one of those little village ones.” He listened for her affirmative. “Okay, so, what does she need, again?” He fumbled with the list, “Right, plasters is a big one—has a star next to it—then there’s gauze and antiseptic, like I said before. Cotton wool, paracetamol, medical tape—” he looked at the screen, “There’s a few outside the front of the shop, but you’ll be coming in through the back. Just get in and out as quickly as possible.”

“That’s what she said.” He paused for a moment to make sure he heard her correctly. 

“Right. Ah-so-so you know what you’re looking for?” he barely registered her answer as he was focused on the images from the CCTV cameras, “Now, quiet as a mouse. They won’t come in if they don’t hear you.” She was cramming the items into her bag when he saw a zombie shuffling towards the back entrance. “Ah-I-I think you have enough, now, I need you to ready your hockey stick. It’s still safer out the back, but you need to take down a lone shambler quietly before you can escape.”

He watched as she zipped up her bag and crept towards the door she came in. The moaning was getting louder and it would attract others soon. Keeping his voice perfectly level he said, “You need to hit it now, Alice.” One hand holding her stick up, she pulled the door open with the other. He heard the growling of the undead clearly before the distinct sound of her stick smashing its skull. “They’ve heard you! Get out! Out! South, as fast as you can. Run!”

The shamblers were coming after her, but she left them behind with little effort. Sam released a breath he didn’t realise he was holding. In a short time she was clear of the populated area and southeast of where the two zombies were. “Okay, Five, you can head west now. You’ll pass a couple of those zombs from before and I’ll tell you when to head north towards home.”

“It’s home now, is it?” She sounded more short of breath than she did before.

He blinked, was it? “Home is where there’s the lowest probability you’ll be eaten by zombies.”

“Not where the heart is?”

Most people’s hearts were torn to pieces these days, “Nope. Your heart is in your chest, if you’re lucky.”

He waited for her response, looking at the screens to verify she was clear. After a moment more of silence she said, “Fair enough. I’m coming home.”

A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. The few months he had been at Abel Township felt like ages, and for some reason he liked the idea that Alice was settling in, too. She came to them like most had: lost, alone, exhausted, and desperate for some semblance of safety. He assumed her story was the same as everyone else’s. 

Now that he knew a few snippets of her history, Sam found himself curious about what he didn’t know. Where was she born? Did she have brothers and sisters? What GCSEs did she have?

The scanner showed her turning north, “Eh, no, Runner Five, not yet. Keep going west.”

“How many shamblers did you say there were?”

He checked the CCTV where they were, “Two. Just two. But you’re better off avoiding them. There’s a clear path once you get past.” She continued running north, “No, you’re still heading towards them. Head west, west, away from them.”

“Are we going to make more runs to this chemist?”

“Probably, there’s a good amount of supplies—of supplies there. Seriously, Five,” he tried to keep the panic from his voice, “west. West. West!” Surely the zombies could see her at this point. He gripped the edge of his desk, helpless.

“They’ve seen me,” her voice was calm and controlled.

“Run! Alice, run!” And finally she did. She started heading west, with the zombies following her and a few kilometres to go before she reached the gates.

“Sam, get me some covering fire. I’m going to bring these two in for termination.”

“Alice, there’s no need, just lose them. They’re slow enough, you’re fast enough, what’s the problem?”

“The problem is that I don’t want to have to run into the same zombs every time I make this run. It’s better this way.”

Chewing his lip, Sam considered his options. He couldn’t really force her to do anything, it seemed, and she was right about not wanting zombies to gather there in future. “Okay. If you keep your pace steady you should be able to lead them to the gate.”

Sam leaned in to watch the monitors, flicking his eyes back and forth between the cameras. She was doing a dangerous dance, letting them come closer, teasing them, sprinting away, and repeating.

After several nail-biting minutes she approached the gates. “Covering fire!” Several shots rang out to eliminate the tailing zombs, “Raise the gates!”

“See, Sam?” she strolled into Abel confidently, “No problem.”

“Y-Yeah,” he focused on breathing and relaxing the muscles in his shoulders he had been tensing, “N-no problem.” 

 

With the recent argument about protocol, Janine was very encouraging when their newest runner, Chris, asked if he could study the movements of small groups of shamblers and subsequently practice safe elimination with a partner. Seeing as Alice was in need of protocol revision, she was nominated to be his partner.

“Fine by me,” she was saying to Jody as they walked from the recc area to the gate, “I’d love to see what this genius can do.”

Sam was a few paces behind them, revising the hypotheses Chris had given him to keep in mind as they ran the mission. “Nearest Neighbour Rule states…” It was something about members moving towards the nearest one and a lack of leadership, but he wasn’t quite sure he understood fully. Anyway, Chris had given him the summary: try to see if any one zombie is leading and take as many notes as possible on how they follow each other and the runners. Chris would do his best in the field, and Sam would do his best from the CCTV. It would be recorded, but Chris thought it was helpful to have an extra pair of eyes looking for the same things. Janine had condescendingly made it very clear that first priority was keeping the runners safe.

Sam looked up at the women walking in front of him. Alice twirled her hockey stick as they walked and chatted. He turned left towards the comms shack, mentally preparing himself for this different kind of mission. Chris had the uncanny ability to make Sam feel like he was in school again and being told off for not paying attention. Not an unusual feeling for him, but he was keen to prove he was paying attention and he did understand. Even if he didn’t.

The mission started in the standard way, “Raise the gates! Runner Five, ready? Runner Ten, ready? Covering fire, and go!” It didn’t take them long to find a cluster of zombies perfect for the mission, and Sam let them know where to look. 

The red light representing Runner Five dashed along the monitor he was watching. Another screen showed her sprinting away from the four shamblers Sam had told her about. There was some movement before her, “Possible crawler ahead!” Sam warned. Five stepped to her left just in time to dodge the rotting arm that reached for her from beneath a pile of leaves.

Runner Ten’s voice came through the speakers, “Well done, Alice, now turn forty-five degrees to your left and maintain your pace. I’ll be coming at them from behind, picking off those that are delayed in turning.” 

Five did as she was told and Sam watched as Chris McShell sprinted up behind the group of zombies, slamming his hammer into two of their skulls as he passed them. Sam let out a whoop when he heard a squishing and crunching sound as Chris hit each target. Without slowing his pace, Runner Ten switched to running in the exact opposite direction to Five. The remaining undead had turned their attention to Chris. “Now, Five, I want you to do an about face and use your hockey stick to eliminate the last two shamblers.”

Alice began her approach of the zombies, carefully avoiding the crawler she dodged before. As she reached the first one she brought her stick down on its cranium with a satisfying thwak. The final zombie turned at this and Runner Five wasted no time bringing her stick up to nail him in the chin. The corpse’s head snapped back with a crack, and crumpled to the ground. Ever the professional, Alice brought the hockey stick down again to bludgeon the zombie’s face. Although Sam was protected from the most graphic bits of this scene by the poor quality of the CCTV cameras, the sounds of brains being flattened came through his speakers clearly. “Nice double-tap, Alice! Now come on home.”

“Not yet,” she breathed, and he saw her wiping her stick on the grass to clean the brains off, “I want to get that crawler.”

Chris was running back towards her now, “That’s really not necessary. I have the data I need now, so there’s no need to put ourselves in danger.”

“That thing almost got my leg and we’re no more than a kilometre from Abel. I don’t want to have to worry about it the next time I go running.”

Sam didn’t want to see them in danger either, but she was right about it being potentially worse in future, “Runner Five, Runner Ten, I want you to take down that crawler.”

“Right, then. Ten, you want to distract while I kill?”

“You’re faster than I am, Five, it would make more sense the other way around.”

Sam heard a huff over Alice’s mic, “You’re fast enough, Chris. Not to mention you have enough kills for six runners. Let me have this one.”

“It’s not a competition, Alice,” Chris was enunciating his words much more than usual, “but if you insist, I’m confident you could catch him before he caught me.”

“Great pow-wow guys, but let’s finish this before another comes along,” Sam was watching his sensors anxiously.

“With pleasure,” Alice whispered as Runner Ten sprinted in the direction of the crawler. She was a few metres behind, waiting for the crawler to take the bait. When it did, Chris picked up speed and Alice twirled her hockey stick around before bringing it down on the zombie’s skull. “See,” she was wiping her weapon off again, “easy.”

“Good work both of you. Now, can you come home?” The runners responded by heading toward Abel. The pair was silent, but Sam wasn’t sure what he could say to make it less awkward. Five minutes later he called his usual, “Raise the gates!” And the runners were safe inside.

He finished writing the log of the mission, adding two to Chris’ kill count, three to Alice’s, and jotting down a few notes for Runner Ten. Just as he finished, the door to the comms shack swung open and Chris walked in. “Runner Five is going to get herself killed with that attitude, you know. She sees it all as a game.”

Sam swivelled his chair around, “To be fair, it’s a game she can probably win. She’s really fast.”

“Fast doesn’t help you when you run into trouble on purpose. If we’re lucky, she’ll only get herself killed,” he sat down in the chair next to Sam and clicked to open the file where he recorded his research.

“Listen, I’m not going to let her do something that will get her killed,” Chris eyed him sideways for a moment before he began to type. “I’m not! Okay yeah-yeah, maybe she can push the boundaries sometimes, but I wouldn’t let her—I mean I wouldn’t let her do anything stupid.”

Chris’ fingers danced across the keys, “You can’t control everything Sam. Ultimately, she makes her own choices. We just have to hope she makes good ones.” 

“She will…” it didn’t come out as confidently as he meant it to, “She will!” Chris eyed him again. “I’m going to go get something to eat.”

“Enjoy.” Chris turned back to his work and Sam heard the clacking of keys as he sulked out of the room.

There was a mist in the air as he stepped outside to make his way to the canteen. Alice had only come to Abel a few weeks ago, but it felt like she had been there longer. It helped that the previous Runner Five had been a cocky wanker who didn’t know a sprinter from a crawler. Not that he deserved what he got, it just made it…not easier…less painful to lose him. The title of Runner Five seemed to fit Alice better. She was fast—probably faster than Runner Eighteen—and smart enough to know how to get things done without getting hurt. 

She was.

Sam began to think he should have a chat with Alice; maybe let her know how important it was that she stayed alive. To Abel. She was a good runner, and they couldn’t afford to lose her. 

 

 

Jody was deeply focused on Alice’s version of today’s events when Sam sat down next to her with his can of Spam. 

“Anyway, so then this thing is crawling after Chris, just scrambling to get a piece of him. It was one of those gnarly ones, you know, with the intestines hanging out the back end and the lips torn off so it has this toothy beak snapping at you.” The spam, still jiggling in its can, lost some of it’s appeal. “So I just jumped up behind him and—” she slammed her palms on the table “—brains everywhere. Had to change when I got back in.” She dug into the can of beans with her spoon and took a bite.

When Sam took a bite full of spam Jody didn’t look impressed. “And you weren’t worried,” he said through a full mouth, “that it could bite you?”

Alice scoffed, “Hardly, it was standard procedure for eliminating a crawler.” She took another bite of beans and winked at him.

“It’s not that simple, Alice, it could have, you know, leapt for you. Those crawlers are tricky.”

“It was one crawler and we had it completely under control. Don’t worry so much.”

“Alice, it’s my job to worry. I want to just-to make sure you know it’s not game.” There.

The icy stare she was giving bore straight through him. Shoving her spoon into the can, she pushed herself away from the table to stand up, “I think we all know it’s not a game Sam.” He might have been mistaken, but it looked like her eyes were watery. “Just because I’m good at what I do, doesn’t mean I don’t understand the consequences of getting it wrong. See you back at housing, Jody.” Her plait whipped around as she turned to leave.

Sam almost got up to chase after her, but Jody stopped him, “Let her cool down. It will only make things worse if you try to fix it now.”

“What’d I do? I was just-I just didn’t want her to get hurt. What if she takes a risk like that when she doesn’t have a partner? When I don’t have her on screen to warn her of danger?” he shoved another mouthful of spam in, chewing thoughtfully.

“We all have our own way of dealing with the pressure and the danger. You know me, Sam, I just flip out. Whinging is my only way of dealing with it.” Taking Alice’s spoon she scooped some beans, “Alice deals with it by making it a challenge.” She took a bite.

“But that’s dangerous!”

Swallowing her food, Jody countered, “Isn’t pretty much everything, now? I mean, being too cautious could be just as much trouble. At least she’s fast. And smart. If she wants to take out a few extra zombs, I certainly won’t complain.”

Sam frowned at his spam. Now that he had started it, he was going to have to finish it. The jiggly meat taunted him. As he began on another forkful he wondered if Chris had been wrong. Sam had okayed the kill, the only thing he wasn’t comfortable with was her not playing to her strengths. She should have been the runner as he terminated. He looked at Jody scraping the bottom of the can for beans, “Do you want to finish this? I’m not sure I can.” She looked suspiciously at his can.

“Are you sure you don’t want it?”

“After Alice’s story, I think I’ve done my best.” She nodded in agreement, but still took his offer. Runners needed a bit more protein than lowly operators. “I’m going to see if I can find her.”

“She won’t want to see you.”

“Maybe not, but I’d like to try.” He left the canteen to find the mist had cleared and the sky was simply overcast now. Typical English Spring. He tried the recc area, but no one there had seen her. A light drizzle was starting to fall when he reached the hospital. Doctor Myers was tending to a little girl with a fever.

“Just the regular kind, not the grey kind,” she said as he eyed the girl cautiously, “she’ll be better in no time. Won’t you Lucy” Lucy coughed and nodded.

“Have you seen Alice?”

She shook her head, “Why? Is she alright?”

“Yep! Fine, never better,” she raised an eyebrow at him, “Okay, well, we may have had a slight misunderstanding. I want to apologise. Do you know where she is?”

The moist towel that she placed on Lucy’s forehead made the little girl sigh. “Have you checked the recc area?”

“First place I looked.”

“Ok, well, if she’s not running she might be in the armoury. Good place to blow off some steam.”

He thanked her and left the hospital. From a distance he saw her, beating a stuffed man with a rounders bat. He approached her slowly, like he might a deer, not wanting to scare her off. After she glanced up at him, he was sure she started beating the thing harder.

“Heey, Five,” Friendly, casual, good start. “Um, ah,” he was close enough now to see her jaw was clenched, “I didn’t-I mean you’re not,” not as good a start as he thought, “I mean-” she stopped beating the dummy, perched a hand on her hip, and with her bat still raised looked expectantly at him, “I mean, I’m sorry.” It was out, but he couldn’t bear to see the reaction. 

He looked down at the zip on his jumper and started fiddling with it. “That dummy looks pretty dead to me,” he grinned up at her, hoping she’d laugh. No luck. “Although, if it still has a head, you never know.” Blank stare, still. “No point in losing your head over this.” ba-dum-cha! Nothing. “Look, it’s really unfair for you to-to still be angry when I’m just trying-trying to keep you safe.”

“You can’t, Sam.” Result! “You think you have control out there, but you don’t. If something happens to me-” She sighed and let the bat hang in her hand at her side, “if something happens to any of us, it’s our fault. Not yours.”

“Can’t it be no-one’s? I mean, sometimes a sprinter just comes out of nowhere, or a horde builds up faster than anyone could have expected. All I was trying to say before was—was just I don’t want you taking unnecessary risks. I don’t want to lose you to something we could have prevented.”

He heard her footsteps as she walked closer to him, but he was focusing on his zip again. When he looked up at her she didn’t seem as scary as she had earlier. Her plait was a bit loose and was decorated with beads of moisture from the spring air. Her fair skin had gone red from the exertion of beating a dummy to death. “You’re going to have to lose me some day, Sam.” He opened his mouth to protest, “let it be for something that was in my control.”

“I-” Sam grasped for words, “I don’t have to lose you. Don’t tell me I have to lose you,” he was angry now, “or anyone!” 

Placing her hand on his shoulder, she said, “Sam, you’ve lost people,” and waited for him to nod, “I’ve lost people. We all have. No one has a terribly unique story. Don’t pretend that the threat is over because you have a relatively safe home here. You see us out there every day, dodging zombs. And they keep coming, always more, they keep coming. What chance do any of us really have?”

He stared at her in disbelief. They had barely said more than pleasantries to each other before now aside from missions. She had hidden her hopelessness well, under a façade of bravado and arrogance. Arrogance and skill, granted, but arrogance nonetheless. 

“What chance do we have? Plenty!” he locked eyes with her, “You, for starters, are one of the best runners I’ve ever seen. I mean, I’ve seen you outrun sprinters with only a metre gap. Even when you’re being competitive, you’re thinking strategically. And you put Janine in her place like no one I’ve ever seen. How could you not survive?” 

A smile was creeping across her lips, “Cheers.”

He wanted to hug her or give her a high five or something, but all he managed was, “Yeah, well…” The punch on the shoulder he gave her probably wasn’t the right move; she looked startled and confused. At least she didn’t stop smiling.

“We should talk more, Sam. You’re,” she tilted her head and furrowed her brow at him, “bizarrely comforting.” It wasn’t the worst compliment he ever received.

 

 

“Excited for the new shipment of DVDs?” Sam asked the next morning, before digging into his breakfast of watery porridge.

Jody swallowed her food. “Do you know what we’re getting, Sam? I’d love a good RomCom,” she dug her spoon back into her bowl.

He couldn’t help but grimace. “Knowing Skoobs Settlement, we’ll get some good ones: documentaries with sharks in, cartoons of all types, some fantasy or science fiction. God, I hope we get the Lord of The Rings Trilogy. Extended edition, of course.” Jody’s face fell more and more as he spoke, “Not a fan?”

“I like, you know, films you’re sure will have happy endings.”

Alice pointed her spoon at Jody, “When Harry Met Sally is good.”

The squeal Jody produced made Sam wince, “Oh! I love that film!” She laughed to herself, “And the diner scene…”

The girls grabbed each other’s hands and cried, “I’ll have what she’s having!” and burst into fits of laughter.

“I think I’m missing something,” Sam’s eyes flicked between the two. They were chattering about men and women and friends, baby fish mouth? He cleared his throat, which he was happy to see brought their attention back around. “Either of you Star Wars fans?”

“I used to watch the older ones with my dad when I was a kid,” Alice’s eyes became distant for a moment before Jody spoke.

“Is that the one with that guy, you know, he’s kind of lizardy, and they find him in a swamp-”

“Yod-”

“Jar-Jar!” Sam’s heart sunk.

“Yeah, that’s the one.” Alice gave him a sympathetic smile as he shoved another spoonful into his mouth. Sam listened to them gossip about who had taken an extra can of food and who had started a new relationship only weeks after their husband had gone grey. 

When Sam finished his meal he made his excuses and started heading over to the comm shack. Looking at the schedule he realised Alice had been very busy recently; she was due a break. So was he, actually. It was perfect timing, he could check out the new films available. 

Sam was just looking at the clock when he heard Runner Five over his speakers, “Hi-ya!”

“Runner Five!” he was happier talking to her on her own, “Ready to meet your Scooby buddy?”

“Yep. I have a bag full of chicken feed and DVDs,” she paused, “Someone was feeling generous. Bag of Doritos in here too. Shame to give it away.”

“Oh, they go nuts for that stuff,” he checked his monitors, “I wonder what we’re getting for it. Raise the gates! Runner Five ready? Covering fire and go!” Sam watched for potential threats, but it seemed her way was clear for now. “You want to head north-west.”

There was a comfortable silence for a few minutes until, looking for conversation, Sam asked, “Who was your favourite Doctor?”

“I always liked Tom Baker’s scarf.”

A grin was plastered onto his face. “And the Jelly Babies?”

“Who could possibly turn down a Jelly Baby?”

“Excellent question. More west now, there’s a zombie to your north, but you need to be going west anyway.”

“What about you?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I love the classics, but David Tennant was amazing. He brought it to a new level.” Her blip was moving steadily across the screen, “You should be seeing Skoobs' runner soon.”

The two runners greeted each other and began to exchange items. “Yes!” the Skoobs runner was looking at the bag of Doritos, “Anna’s going to be so pleased.” Sam saw him reach into his pocket and place something small in Alice’s hand, “You’re cool, right?” She put the thing in her pocket and they finished exchanging the rest of the goods.

Putting her bag back over her shoulders she said, “I think that’s everything. Thanks.”

“Thank you.”

“What was that little thing he gave you?” Sam asked when she’d started home, “I couldn’t see.”

“You have a day off tomorrow, don’t you?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I’ll show you tonight.” he frowned at the monitor. Personal possessions were discouraged in Abel; supplies were scarce. If one person decided to get greedy, it could mean the death of someone else in the community. There could be some incredible temptations for runners, so it was especially important that they keep the moral high ground. Whatever she had was small enough to pass under the radar though. If it was food, it wasn’t more than a nibble.

“Okay, there’s a handful of zombs to your north, if you just keep going south-east they shouldn’t even see you.” He spotted the jar of marmite from the corner of his eye and grabbed it. Digging his finger in, he took a lick. He wasn’t entirely innocent of hoarding.

Looking up at the monitors he almost choked on his marmite, “Cr-Crawler just ahead! Twelve o’clock! Look out!” 

She brought her hockey stick up, ready to strike, but then dashed left. The crawler leapt for her and missed by a few metres. She continued sprinting until Sam said, “You’re fine. You’re fine. You can run at your normal pace now.”

Sam continued to watch the screens vigilantly, but her path was clear. A short while later he found himself saying, “Raise the gates!”

Against his better judgement, Sam left Alice pocketing something out of his mission log. He didn’t know what it was yet, and he didn’t want to get her in trouble with Janine over something silly. When he finished he made his way over to the recc area to see what DVDs they had received. 

It was one of those rare days when the sun was trying to peak out from behind the wall of grey clouds. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to have the sun shining down on him, and he took a moment to savour it, closing his eyes and letting it warm his face.

He heard the tapping of a crutch and opened his eyes to find Jack and Eugene before him, the latter grinning from ear to ear, “Hey, Sam, did you hear about the haul?”

“I was just coming to check it out.”

Jack didn’t seem as thrilled, “We got a few good ones: South Park series 1 to 4, Shark Week 2008--”

“Shaun of the Dead!” Eugene was looking at Jack with wild eyes.

“Yes,” Jack cleared his throat, “that too.”

Eugene put his arm around Jack’s shoulders, “Aw, c’mon, Jack. You know you love it. It’s so,” he paused dramatically, “apropos.” 

“I did love it, before I’d been called Shaun for the thousandth time.”

“Now, I’ve told you a million times not to exaggerate.” Jack rolled his eyes, but was clearly having trouble holding back a smile, “Besides, you brought it on yourself. I mean, the hair, the cricket bat,” he looked to Sam for confirmation, “what else could he expect?”

“I’m sorry, Jack.” Sam forced as much sincerity as he could into those words.

“It’s alright, Sam.”

“No,” he stared into Jack’s eyes and raised an eyebrow, “I’m sorry.”

Suddenly the meaning of Sam’s words dawned on him and his eyes went wide, “You didn’t!”

Sam and Eugene were shaking with laughter, “No, but if you got that, you know you want to watch it again.”

Jack couldn’t hold the smile back any longer, “Alright, alright. We can get a group together and watch it tonight if Janine will allow the electricity. You in, Sam?” He clearly assumed Eugene was all for the idea.

Rubbing the back of his neck Sam said, “Ah, well, Alice wanted to show me something tonight.”

Both of the duo had Cheshire grins now, “Show you something, eh?” Jack waggled his eyebrows.

“No!” Sam suddenly became preoccupied with the zip on his jumper, “No, I don’t—that’s not—you don’t think…?”

“You might want to have a bath, just in case,” Sam looked up at Eugene, now self-conscious.

“It hasn’t been that long.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, just, you know, fresh smells are appreciated,” Eugene gave a meaningful look to Jack, who looked suitably offended.

“Are you implying something?”

Sam didn’t care to listen to them fight, or flirt, or banter, or whatever it was, “Thanks for the advice, guys, I’d better run.”

Water was too scarce to use for baths unless it was absolutely essential. Most people in Abel just gave themselves sponge baths every few days (or weeks for the less fastidious souls) and put modesty aside when there was a heavy rainstorm. 

After grabbing half a pitcher of water, a sponge, and a bar of soap, Sam walked to the wash area and began scrubbing down. He had heard that some settlements had hot showers. Hot showers. The thought was almost pornographic. 

He was sure Jack and Eugene were winding him up. Alice didn't want--he was positive she didn't. Not that he would be against it. She was fit, in every sense of the word. She wasn't the kind of girl who would go for a guy like him. She would like older men who were strong and sickeningly masculine, like Evan.

It wouldn't hurt to smell clean though. 

After he finished washing, Sam put on some clean clothes: a fresh pair of boxer briefs, some soft, worn, blue trousers, and a red t-shirt. He kept his grey jumper, he liked it and it wasn't that dirty.

At the canteen, it didn't take Sam long to spot Alice sitting with Jody, although it looked like they had both already finished their dinner. He grabbed a bowl of the slop being served, and was deciding if he wanted to get trapped in another conversation with Jody, when Alice caught his eye and waved him over. 

As he sat down across from Alice, Jody made an excuse about not wanting to miss the start of Shaun of the Dead and left. To be fair, he would have been keen to watch it too if Alice hadn't gotten him curious about what she’d been given.

Sam took a spoonful of stew and began to blow the steam off. Alice licked her lips as she watched him eat. There was no doubt that she was still hungry. Dinner was never completely filling. Most stomachs had somewhat adjusted to the smaller portions, but runners always seemed ravenous, even with the extra rations.

When he took a bite Alice looked him over and asked if it was raining out.

“No, why?”

“Your hair’s all wet,” she reached over and touched a lock, and if he wasn’t too busy looking at her hand and thinking about how close she was to him, he would have thought about how he really needed a haircut.

“I took a-ah bath,” he was able to speak after she pulled her hand away.

Still focused on him eating his food she said, “Oh,” and licked her lips as she stared at his bowl. “That may not have been the best idea, considering what I have planned for tonight.”

Warmth flooded Sam’s neck and ears and he was sure he’d gone red. When she glanced up at him he smothered the grin that had been threatening to spread across his face.

“Sam, you do know what that runner gave me, don’t you?” she was tilting her head at him again. There was something about that idiosyncrasy; it gave him a fuzzy, fluttery feeling in his tummy. 

He frantically searched for an answer. Should he have known? “Didn’t you say you would show me tonight?”

“Of course, but I thought you might have guessed what Skoobs township would be handing off,” she held her fist out on the table, looked left and right, and then quickly flashed him what was in her hand. It looked like a rollie. 

The clues clicked together in his head, “Ohhhh….” He didn’t know what to think. He really should have guessed it was that, but it was just the furthest thing from his mind.

Alice was slouching now, looking down at her lap where she had placed her hands. She spoke to him without looking up, “I mean, you’re cool, right?” he watched as her face became a lovely rosy colour, “I mean, we don’t have to if you don’t want to. I could give it to someone else,” she shrugged and her speech quickened, “I just thought it might be fun with you, and it’s not really illegal anymore is it? I think we’re way past those laws. It’s probably the least of Janine’s worries. But if you don’t want to—“ she peeked up at him, “I mean, have you ever done it before?”

He wanted to sound cool and relaxed and say he used to do it all the time. The problem was, he was a terrible liar. “A couple of times with my mates from university. But my parents would have killed me if they found out.” Actually, he would have been lucky if they just killed him; at least that would have been quick. “Have you?”

Her eyes turned down to her lap again, “I used to have a boyfriend that liked to smoke. It wasn’t—“ she looked up at Sam, “You’re much more positive. More fun. I think it’d be fun with you.”

It certainly wasn’t what he was expecting. Jack and Eugene shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up. He hadn’t even really thought of Alice in that way until they suggested it, and now he couldn’t stop. 

When he smoked in university he had some really deep conversations with friends and it was always relaxing, completely different from drinking. Having finished the last of his dinner when Alice was rambling, he piled the bowls together and stood up. “Come on,” he couldn’t help the mischievous smile, “I know the perfect place.”

They were both very giggly and bouncy as they walked through Abel. Alice didn’t seem surprised when they reached the comms shack, it was one of the few buildings that offered privacy that they had access to. He knew it wouldn’t be a problem, she was right about that law being obsolete now, and they both had the day off tomorrow, but old habits died hard.

The door clicked open to a dark room. Rather than wasting electricity, Sam rummaged through the mess to find a candle, some matches, and a blanket he often used when it was extra chilly. Alice lit the candle as Sam laid out the blanket on the floor. For some reason the creaky swivel chairs just seemed wrong for this sort of thing.

They sat on the blanket across from each other, cross-legged with the candle between them. The furtive smiles they both held were softly lit by the candle’s warm glow. Alice took the joint out of her pocket and lit it with the candle, no need to waste matches. She took a long drag and handed it to Sam. He locked eyes with her as he took his turn and they both stayed like that for a moment until each exhaled a cloud of smoke.

The next few minutes were spent in silence, taking turns and watching a grin spread across the other’s face. Sam felt a tingling sensation all over his body and his brain was sort of fuzzy. Alice’s droopy eyes when they finished told him she was feeling relaxed too.

Sam found himself chattering about how fast Alice was and how much more credit runners should get. Alice nodded until he finished, and she then she started talking about how runners should get more food, and how they should be making agriculture more of a priority and looking for seeds and livestock. 

"But," Sam had scrunched up his face, "how would you run a cow back here? Ride it?" the image threw them both into a fit of giggles. 

"We'd," Alice coughed on her laughter and pursed her lips, "We'd use a vehicle. Janine would have to agree to it. Think if the milk and cheese and butter-"

"Oh, butter," the word flowed off his tongue lustfully. 

Alice's voice took on a sultry tone, "Can you imagine scrambled eggs with Philadelphia cooked in butter?"

A shudder ran through Sam's shoulders, "Oh, God," he shook his head, "it's too much. I'm so hungry."

"I wish we had kept those Doritos." 

Sam groaned, "Let's-let's talk about something other than food."

They sat in silence for a moment before Alice spoke, "I'm having trouble thinking of anything but zombies. I'm not sure I want to talk about that," she had become fixated on the flickering flame of the candle between them. 

"We could talk about the undead if you wanted to." Sam played with the zip on his jumper, thinking of all the directions this topic could bring them. 

"Can I ask you, um," she was tilting her head at him, "you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but who-who have you lost?"

The pull-tab on Sam's jumper suddenly became very interesting. When he looked up at Alice she was smiling kindly at him, "I, um-my parents, definitely, they're-yeah." The flame was dancing, making the curves of her face look warm and inviting. "I don't know about my sister. I'd like-I'm still hoping she's surviving somewhere." 

"How do you know your parents are dead?" Alice shuffled closer. 

He stared into the candle and was suddenly lost in that moment, distant and experiencing it once again, "They had gone out to get supplies: food, weapons," he took a shuddering breath, "things to keep us going when we tried to escape up north. I was packing the car up--just finished, actually--when they pulled into the drive." 

He looked up at her to see she was leaning in with a frown brushing her lips. He really didn't want to finish, but her hungry eyes compelled him to continue, "I knew there was something wrong straight away. My mum was driving. She never drove. Hated it. She didn't even look at me when she got out, just ran around to the passenger side and helped my dad get out." The image of what followed was burned into his memory; "He was drenched in blood, holding his wrist. My mother had wrapped the bite with the scarf she had been wearing, the cashmere one I'd given her for Christmas."

He licked his lips, which were suddenly very dry. "She just couldn't accept it. Couldn't believe there was nothing she could do to change it." He chuckled darkly, "Put him to bed like he had a cold. When he turned," he wasn't going to cry, he wasn't, "She was still holding him. Still sobbing into his chest." Alice crawled over to sit beside him.

"He got her neck. Jugular. There was-she-" this was the part he never allowed himself to think of. "It was bad. She turned so quick-so fast. All the blood must've--" he took a deep breath to steady himself. Looking down at Alice showed her eyes shimmering in the candlelight. "I-I knew they would be after me next. Slammed the door, shoved a chair up against the handle and-I don't even know. It just happened so quickly."

Alice was sniffling next to him, but he didn't dare look at her again. "I grabbed the axe they'd bought and waited. They couldn't--" he swallowed the lump that had developed in his throat and croaked, "I couldn't leave them like that. I didn't—" he swallowed another lump, "I didn't leave them like that. They're gone now."

When he looked down at Alice, she had tears streaming down her cheeks too. Sam wrapped his arms around her and she collapsed into his chest, shuddering with sobs. He buried his face in her hair and she clung tighter. He knew she wasn't just crying for him. She was probably thinking of her own devastation as well. 

Several sobbing, soggy minutes later they pulled away from each other. He tried to be cool about wiping the dampness from his eyes. Glancing down at his shirt he laughed. There was a large wet patch on the chest of his carefully chosen crimson shirt. 

Alice's eyes were red and puffy and her plait was loose and left waves of chocolate hair dangling around her ears. She looked beautiful. Sam couldn't help leaning in, encouraged by her doing the same. He closed his eyes and felt her soft lips pressed against his. Bringing his hand behind her neck, he tasted her lips with the tip of his tongue. The kiss spiralled and intensified and Sam was lost in a haze of desperate sucking, licking and nibbling.

He was just contemplating moving his hands lower when there was a snap of the handle twisting and the door clicked open. The two flung themselves apart and gasped for breath. Their flushed cheeks and lips matched their splotchy red eyes.

Janine stood silently, straight faced, looking over the scene: the rumpled blanket, the dying candle, the smoky air, and the two of them looking rosy and disheveled. He was sure they were both about to be told off for smoking or wasting resources.

Instead, Janine said, "I thought I saw a light on. It's past curfew, you should be in bed."

Exhaling, Sam smiled, "Right, thanks Janine."

"Enjoy your day off, Mr Yao," she slipped back out. 

Sam helped Alice fold up the blanket. They blew out the candle and started towards housing. The two walked in silence, close enough to hold hands, but never touching. When they reached her tent, she asked if he wanted to spend their day off together. 

A grin plastered itself onto Sam's face and he agreed.

"Okay, meet for breakfast then?"

He nodded and chanced another kiss. It wasn't anything special, just a peck before she went inside, but it still gave him a funny, fluttery feeling again. 

 

 

Sam awoke feeling more refreshed than he had in months. He didn't even think he had nightmares. It could have been the smoke, or the tears, or finally telling someone what happened to his parents, but whatever it was he savoured the feeling. 

He almost didn't recognise Alice when he saw her queuing for breakfast. She wasn't wearing her usual uniform of a running kit; instead she was wearing a white cotton t-shirt and a flowing, flowery knee length skirt. Her hair was down and tumbled off her shoulders in dark waves.

"Hi," he tapped her on the shoulder.

She whirled around with a cheeky smile playing on her lips, "Why, hello."

"Sleep well?"

"Brilliantly. I always sleep solidly after I smoke. Makes sense why Scoobs is growing it," she stepped up to take her bowl of porridge. 

"Any exciting ideas for today?" he took his breakfast too, and found himself wishing for brown sugar. As they turned to sit down he watched her skirt swish back and forth with the movement of her hips. 

"Eh," he realised he was staring and breathed out, “nope.”

"Would you want to just go for a walk and see where that takes us?"

"We can do that." Sam shovelled a spoonful of flavourless porridge into his mouth. Having never told anyone exactly what happened to his parents Sam wasn't sure where to go from here. How was he supposed to make small talk with someone who knew he had split open the skulls of his grey parents? 

Clearing his throat, he made his attempt, "So...the weather's crap." Smooth. So smooth. "You sure you want to go for a walk?"

She swallowed her porridge, "I'm fine with it if you are. It's just drizzling." 

"Good to see you haven't lost your stiff upper lip. We may be surviving the zombie apocalypse, but we're still British."

Grinning, Alice stuck her nose in the air, and put on a posh accent, "Quite right!" 

“Crikey!”

“I like the cut of your jib, Mr Yao!”

“Spiffing!”

“I say, this is tip top!” The pair broke into fits of giggles.

When they exhausted their collective store of upper-class English phrases, Sam yet again grasped for something to talk about that wasn't hugely dark and depressing. Usually he was an expert at rambling on about nothing, but now it just seemed like it would be overtly obvious that he was dancing around saying anything serious.

He instead decided that scraping his plate for the last scraps of breakfast required all of his attention. Alice, having already finished her meal, was looking around the room, everywhere but Sam. He wondered if she was feeling as awkward as he was. 

The thought of their kiss crossed his mind, and suddenly it was all he could think about. He found himself staring at her plump, softly frowning lips, and remembered the way they felt against his, smooth and wet, and that thing she did with his tongue--he jumped when her eyes swung back to meet his. Act casual. Act casual! The raised eyebrows and grin that was suddenly plastered onto his face probably didn't help convey the devil-may-care attitude he was going for, but it was too short notice for anything else. 

Raising her own eyebrow at him, Alice said, "You alright?"

"Fine! Yep!" he was desperately trying to make his face look relaxed and normal, but he knew he was failing fantastically. 

She didn't look convinced, but she was kind enough to drop it, "Want to get going? I think I know a good spot."

Grateful for the distraction, Sam cleared their bowls and followed Alice outside. 

Again, they walked along close together. Sam was so focused on deciding if he should take hold of her hand he only realised where they were going when they approached the armoury. 

Looking over her outfit he said, "Aren't you a little overdressed?"

Alice gave him a cheeky smile, "We're not practicing melee. I thought a bit of target practice might be fun."

Sam furrowed his brow, "Would Major de Santa allow us to waste ammunition?"

"It's not a waste if we're training.”

A lump had found its way into Sam's throat. "Yeah," too high pitched, "yeah, that's fine. I can shoot. Lots of experience shooting things." It all came out way too quickly. 

Alice tilted her head at Sam, "In video games?" a grin was playing on her lips. 

Ducking his head, Sam mumbled something about first person shooters. 

With a giggle, Alice grabbed his hand and pulled him along, "Come on, I'll show you how." Sam was able to forget his anxiety over weaponry temporarily as they intertwined their fingers.

After a quick chat with one of the guards they were leaving for the firing range with a handgun. "The first thing you need to know," Alice was saying, "is that you respect your weapon. Always treat a gun as if it's loaded, no matter how sure you are that it isn't." 

Sam raised an eyebrow at her, "Oh, so you mean don't look down the barrel to check?" she must have had no confidence in him. 

She raised her palms up, "Relax, everyone gets the same lecture. It's common sense, but it's important. Same as the next one: always keep your weapon pointed away from people."

"Only zombs and target practice."

"Exactly. Now I'm going to hand you the weapon safely, but don't put your finger near the trigger until you are absolutely ready to shoot." He took the handgun from her, felt its weight. 

They were about twenty metres away from the plywood zombie outline that had been cut for just this purpose. The cutout was riddled with bullet holes, and patched with scrap wood all over. It was held together about as well as a real zombie. Alice nodded toward it, "Obviously a real zomb won't be as still as that, but your average shambler doesn't move much quicker. Here," she positioned his hand on the gun so that his grip was high against the back of it, "hold it with both hands too, so you have more control."

Sam did as he was told, bringing the weapon up towards the dummy. "Yeah, I've played Resident Evil." 

Alice stifled a laugh as she folded her hands around Sam's, moving his fingers to support the trigger guard. He might have imagined it, but Sam thought Alice lingered longer than necessary. 

She stepped behind him, "Now, stand with your feet shoulder width apart," he moved the way he told him. "Raise your weapon, and get the target in your sights." Using everything he had learned in video games, he aimed. Apparently he didn't get it right, because he felt her fingertips touch his arm, adjusting his hold. 

Her breath brushed softly against the back of his neck, and a shiver ran down his spine, "Are you ready?" His tongue felt dry against his teeth, but he nodded. "Okay, so you're not going to anticipate the gun firing. When I say the word, you're going to firmly squeeze until it goes off. You should be able to do that," cheeky. He began to feel warm, jittery. Pulling the trigger as she said, he felt, more than heard, it go off.

It was hard to tell with all the holes already in the target, but he was pretty sure he had done and impressive job of missing it entirely. Glancing over at Alice’s face he was reassured of his utter failure. She was smiling in the sort of way that one smiles at a child who has just butchered ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ on the saxophone. 

“Here,” she brought his hands back up to the correct position. “You’ve seen ‘Zombie Land,’ right?” He nodded of course. “Ok, so breathe out before you pull the trigger this time. When you’re ready.”

Sam took a deep breath in and moved his finger to the trigger. Breathing out he focused his aim on the head of the target, and at the end he fired. Result! There was a new hole in the wooden fiend. Okay, so it was in the neck.

“That would have been good enough to knock the head off. Or at least sever the spinal cord,” Alice reassured him.

With her encouragement Sam was able to hit the target several more times before they decided they had used enough ammunition. There was a light mist in the air still, so they started towards the recc room. As they walked Sam desperately tried not to notice the way Alice’s t-shirt and skirt clung to her with moisture.

“So,” he decided chatter was the best way to distract himself, “how’d you learn to shoot like that?”

“Ah,” Alice furrowed her brow a bit, “I was in the OTC in uni, but I learned the basics from my Dad. We had chickens and he was always complaining about foxes. Thought it’d be good to have another sharpshooter around.”

“So your Dad was in favour of fox hunting, then?”

“Don’t get all political—”

“I wasn’t!” Sam raised his hands up, palms out in innocence.

“He didn’t have a hundred hounds tear them apart, he just,” she licked her lips, “he was just the kind of man who protected what was his.” They walked in silence for a moment. The cool, wet air was beginning to give him goose pimples. “Anyway, like everyone else I’ve learned a lot more about weaponry recently.”

This was getting a bit too heavy. Sam grasped for something lighter to day.“So…power of flight or power of invisibility?”

Pursing her lips, Alice glanced at him, “Do I get all the necessary powers to go with each?”

Sam had thought it was a simple question, “Ah, maybe? What necessary powers?”

“Like, okay, say I can fly. I can fly really fast. Can my body withstand the pressures of supersonic speed? Can I also withstand the extreme cold temperatures in the upper atmosphere, not to mention the low oxygen levels? And with invisibility, am I also silent and odourless? Zombies are more about smell than sight, anyway. And what about my clothes? Do they become invisible too? I don’t want to have to wind up naked every time I stop sneaking around.”

The grin spreading towards Sam’s cheeks faltered. He loved the thought she put into this, but the thought of her naked was a bit too close to home with the wet cotton she was wearing. Swallowing the sudden lump in his throat while simultaneously trying to maintain his grin was something of an effort.

“Good point. Yes, necessary associated powers would be a must.”

Tilting her head as she thought, Alice was silent a moment. “Flight. However useful invisibility would be as a runner, flight would still be better. I could see what the rest of the world was doing; maybe find a safe haven. Safer than Abel I mean. And I’d never have to worry about sprinters because I’d just leap up into the air.”

“Higher than the tallest building,” Sam agreed. As they reached the recc room he was lost in the fantasy of flying away, maybe finding his sister.

The room was a previously an outbuilding, and had the distinct smell of years of dust, dirt, and rust. In the back part of the large room small children were being taught, helped by the older ones. Sam and Alice shifted quietly over to the games area.

“Want to play chess?” Alice asked, “I think that has all it’s pieces.”

“Could do, but I won’t promise you a challenging game.”

“No worries, I’m not fantastic, I just know the basics.” They proceeded to set the game up on the rusty card table. As the game progressed it became clear that neither had very much experience, but they were both enjoying it so neither seemed to mind.

The day passed quickly, as it seems all days off do. The rain finally stopped and they went for a walk around the edge of Abel. The two ate dinner together and chatted about films and shows they both loved. Or that one of them loved and the other had never heard of.

At sunset, Sam walked her to her tent. The on and off drizzling rain had turned her hair into a sea of thick curls. Alice gazed up at him, her lips slightly parted, her head cocked to the side in that adorable way. He knew he should kiss her, every fibre in his being was calling him to give her a proper snog, but in the end it was just another shy peck. He savoured the feeling, though, wanting to take is time with this…relationship?...whatever it was. With the way she looked at him, he hoped there would be plenty more kisses to come, and he was comfortable at this stage. The sense of the unknown only lasted so long. 

He watched her duck inside then turned toward his own quarters. That fluttery feeling was back in his tummy again. He hadn’t really considered this a possibility. With everything so wrong, so horrific, the idea that he could find happiness, companionship, when he never really found it before the grey plague seemed ludicrous. But he wasn’t thinking about where his next meal was going to come from, or mentally planning supply runs. He was just wondering about what it would feel like the next time he kissed Alice.

 

Sam had his breakfast early the next morning, ready to get back to work. On his way over to the comms shack he ran into Doctor Myers. “Morning, Doc!”

“Indeed,” she gave him a cheeky grin, “I heard you had a good day off.”

He felt the warmth of colour immediately rush to his face, “Erm-yeah, spent some time with Runner Five.”

“So I heard.” He barely caught her wink.

Clearing his throat he went about setting the record straight, “No, er, no it wasn’t like that. I mean, it was, but it wasn’t like that. I mean…” Maxine was nodding knowingly, which only made him feel more flustered. “We’re just friends.”

“I never said anything to the contrary.” She never did, but the grin on her face was screaming Sam and Alice, sitting in a tree….

“Anyway, I’ve gotta get to the comms shack. I’ll see you later.”

The day was a busy one, lots of supplies to be collected. Jody had the first run, nothing complicated, just a basic food run. She did manage to collect some seeds on the way, which the farmers would be happy about. He had just enough time to write up the mission log and eat a tin of beans before the next one.

“Hiya, Sam!” Runner Five’s familiar voice chirped through his speakers. 

“All right, runner five?”

“Yep!” She always seemed so full of energy before a run, pumped up. “Did Doctor Myers talk to you yet?” 

At the thought of the morning’s chat his face grew warm again, “Erm, about what?”

“The mission.” The door to the comms shack clicked open, “Top secret, need to know, you know.” Maxine stepped inside.

“Oh, Sam, I meant to tell you earlier,” She pulled up a swivel chair next to him, “There’s some files in Robinson Hospital I’d like to have a look at.”

He didn’t like the sound of this, “Files worth a run?” That place could be crawling with zombies.

“Absolutely. They could contain some critical information.” This didn’t comfort Sam at all. He was getting a serious case of the wiggins.

After clearing something from his throat Sam spoke into the mic, “Runner Five, do you have your weapon with you?”

“Sure do,” her voice came over his speakers, “Why? Do you think I’ll be seeing some action?” She sounded excited. Why did that make him feel worse?

“Maybe,” he tried to release some nervous tension with a shuttering laugh, “Most likely.”

“Excellent.” She was chomping at the bit.

Doctor Myers pulled her chair closer so she could talk into the mic, “Now, you’re going to need to be focused, Runner Five. You already know you’re heading east towards Robinson Hospital. Remember, you’re looking for one of the tallest buildings, Gryphon Tower. There should be in the area that I told you. You just need to get in and get out as quickly as possible.

“Aye-aye! Can I go now Sam?”

He checked his monitors. Near Abel there were only a few stragglers, but sending her towards a city…greys couldn’t be avoided. “Raise the gates!” the alarm screamed, Werrrp! Werrrp! Werrrp! Werrrp! “Runner Five, ready?”

“You know it!”

“Covering fire,” the gunners fired at the shambling stragglers, “and go!”

He watched as her red blip moved further and further away. The monitors indicated that her way was clear, but he had to glance at the ones nearer her destination. That was going to be the tricky bit. “Good pace, Runner Five, don’t waste any energy at the start.” His eyes kept wandering to the city. There wasn’t a mob there, thankfully, but it certainly wasn’t clear.

Guiding her nearer to the hospital was simple. As she approached the tower he had her darting one way and another to avoid zombs, and thankfully she wasn’t playing hero. Examining his screens made him worry a bit, “Listen, there’s a somewhat,” he grasped for the right words, “not overly small gathering of greys in the car park. Try the ground floor of the hospital.”

Runner Five did as she was told, and he lost visual contact as she went inside. “Remember to say what you see, Five, I’ll let you know if anything interesting happens on the outside.”

The Doctor was on the mic again, “Remember where I told you to look, Five?”

“Yep, I’m heading there now. There is a single shambler in the hall,” he heard a sort of wet crunch, “Add one to my kill count, Sam.”

“Noted,” he was distracted by the swarm slowly closing around the building. “Erm, Runner Five, you need to get out of there.”

“Sam I’m almost to the room!”

Maxine looked at the screen that was worrying him, “Runner Five, we’d be better off trying another day, do as Sam says.”

“Let me just—” 

A panic had worked its way inside him, “Now! Alice, get out of there! Same way you came! Run!”

A heart beat then, “On my way.”

His eyes were glued to her exit. The tension was building in his shoulders as he watched the swarm move closer and closer. Just as he though she was going to be trapped the door swung open and he had a visual. He gasped, “Okay, I see you, I see you.” 

She was lightning fast, but they were just behind her. At the start only centimetres separated her from their grasping grey fingertips, but she quickly put some distance between them. In only moments she had a few metres between her and the closest shambler. 

Exhaling slowly he checked her path ahead. “Runner Five, you’re going to want to head north. They’re blocking your path to the south and west.” North wasn’t entirely clear either, “Do you have your weapon handy?”

“Yeah,” she breathed, she was running near top speed still.

“I don’t want to worry you,” he counted the zombies, “there’s probably about four spread out across your path to the north,” a swear slipped out, “but that’s clearer than the other directions.”

Maxine seemed just as tense as he felt, but thankfully she was just letting him get on with it. He watched as Runner Five approached the first shambler and took it down with one swift swing of her hockey stick. “Another one,” she breathed, “to the kill count, Sam.”

The nerves escape him in the form of a laugh again, “Noted.” He looked for a safe route home in the old CCTV cameras, “Okay,” this was going to take a while, “Okay, you’re going to turn northwest now. If you run for about another two kilometres you can loop back down south to come home.”

He watched her blip turn. “The way’s not entirely clear, is it Sam?”

It felt like he had swallowed something fuzzy and it was stuck, “No,” too high pitched, “No, not entirely. Your radio may not be able to reach me for a bit, but don’t worry, I’ll still be here.” He mustered up as much confidence as he could, “You can do it.”

He heard another wet crunch as she eliminated a lone shambler. Glancing at his screens, he noticed they were a bit fuzzier than usual. “Doc, you didn’t touch anything did you?”

“No, why?” as if on cue, the screens went black and a stream of swear words that would have made his mother wash his mouth out with soap escaped his lips.

“Sam?” Alice whispered. Sam silently thanked whatever deity who kept that system in tact. “Sam, what’s wrong?”

“The, eh, the cameras are down again,” Alice’s anxious moan came through his speakers. “Maxine, can you please get Janine? She’ll fix this in no time.” If she knows what’s good for her. The doctor did as she was told and walked briskly out of the room.

The wet crunch came over the speakers again, “Another one for your kill count, Runner Five?” then another “Two?” he could hear her breathing but no response yet. Her blip had stopped. “Runner Five?” Thwak! Thwak! Thwak! “You’re racking them up runner five,” he was getting nervous, “S-say what you see!”

Another heavy wet thump and, “Sorry, Sam, there were a few of them there for a moment.” He watched her red blip start to move again. “When do you lose radio contact with me?”

“You’ll be able to hear me for quite a while, but I won’t be able to hear you in about half a kilometre.” He listened to her quick steady breaths.

“Just,” her breaths were coming quicker and her red blip was moving faster, “Just keep talking to me. About anything.”

“Any topic in particular?”

“Tell me the story of Star Wars. Starting with A New Hope.” He couldn’t help but laugh. That he could do.

Beginning with, “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…” he babbled on about the force and Jedi. It all sounded so out of place, so trivial now, but if it comforted her when she was alone in the wilderness he was happy to oblige. Every so often he would stop a moment and listen for her laboured breaths. Janine came in towards the beginning and gave him a raised eyebrow, but thankfully she just went to work on fixing the cameras.

It was about the time that Luke met Obi-Wan that there was nothing left on her end. He could still see her red blip though, so he continued on. When her blip didn’t turn south he started to get concerned. He continued talking, sipping on the water Doctor Myers had brought for him at one point.

“Mr Yao,” Janine looked apprehensive, “I’m going to have to turn off the scanners for a moment to get the cameras back on line. There’s no other way.”

He took a slow sip from his water, “Will the cameras be back when you’ve done that?”

“Should be,” he furrowed his brows at her, “Mr Yao, I’m working with paperclips and bits of string here, MacGyver would be impressed.”

“Just,” he looked back at the red blip, his only connect left with Alice, “do what you have to do.” With that she pulled some wires and the blip disappeared. “Runner Five,” he sighed, she’s still there, I just can’t hear her, “Runner Five, I’m still here. Should be able to see you soon. That’s good news, eh?” another burst of nervous laughter escaped him. “You’ll be back home in no time.” 

He continued babbling for a few minutes until the screens popped back on. “Yes! See? There you—” he flicked through the screens, “there you…” He was getting frantic now. “Janine, can you get the scanners back on line?”

She swore under her breath, “I’ll have to do that from outside. I’ll work as fast as I can.” After gathering her tools she walked outside to hopefully perform a miracle.

“So, Runner Five,” he sighed, “Alice…” Night was beginning to fall, and she was still out there. Still trying to find her way home. “Have I ever told you about the time I got my little sister stuck in an Ewok costume…?”

 

It was a long night. A very long night. Janine said the scanner should be working, but Runner Five was still not showing up. Nor could he find her on the cameras. At one or two points Jack and Eugene came in to give him a break, but he only took enough time to use the toilet and then he was back at the desk. They tried to convince him to get some sleep, but he couldn’t if he tried. She was still running, still in danger.

“Come on, Runner Five,” he was whispering, his voice hoarse from hours and hours of talking. “Find your way home.” His mind began to wander again. “You never told me what happened to your dad. You’ll have to tell me when you get back.” 

Glancing at the clock he saw it was four in the morning. “If you’re trying to break my record for most hours awake in a row, you’ll have to try a bit harder. I’ve seen many a sunrise from the wrong side.” He decided now was not the time to reveal his role-playing tendencies. She might just stay lost out of principle. “Just think, soon it’ll be light enough for you to see your way home. Just keep looking for that red beacon.”

 

The hours ticked away and soon the sun rose and was part way up the sky. There was a knock at the door and Doctor Myers poked her head in, “Sam? You’re still in here?”

He turned, bleary red eyes half covered by his drooping lids, “Yeah. She’s still out there.”

“Sam, she…” slowly she walked to him and put a hand on his shoulder, “Sam you know the odds…”

“Never tell me the odds,” she would have liked that. She will like that. She’s still out there. He looked down at the pull tab on his jumper’s zipper and started fiddling with it. If he looked up at her pitying face it would be over, and it couldn’t be over. “No, she—” the tab got stuck on his shirt and he had to pry it free, “No, she’s fast. She’s really clever too, she probably found a place to hide. She might have been in a tree, sleeping until daylight.” He forced himself to look up at her with his brimming eyes, “I can’t give up now. She’s on her way home.”

She sighed, “Sam, how much longer are you going to give it?”

He hadn’t thought about that. He had only thought that if he left the desk, even for a moment, that’s when she’d need him most, that’s when she’d pop on his sensors, and chirp, “Hey, Sam, miss me?” and he’d casually say, “Did you sleep well, Runner Five?” and they’d have a good laugh and he’d guide her safely home. He couldn’t stop himself from flicking through the screens again. She’s on her way home now. I just need to spot her.

He was examining one of the screens when Maxine spoke again, “When, Sam? You can’t do this forever.”

“The hell I can’t,” was that her? No. A zombie.

Doctor Myers sat in the seat next to him, “Sam, it’s not your fault.”

He glanced at her, but his eyes zipped back to the screens, “What do you mean?”

“Runner five…Alice. She’s gone and—”

“You don’t know that!” he roared, not taking his eyes from the screens, “She probably spent the night somewhere safe. She can get out of there.” He examined another one. “She’s coming home.”

Doctor Myers turned her eyes toward the window where the bright sunlight was streaming through. “It’s my fault Sam,” she looked back at him, “I shouldn’t have sent her on that mission. I knew it was dangerous. I just thought…” she sighed and folded her arms into her lap, “I thought I could help fix things.” Sam looked at her, properly, and their eyes met, “I just made things worse.”

There was still no sign of Runner Five. Of Alice. Maybe he would find her again one day, but the odds… “No, it’s my fault,” Maxine shook her head but he continued, “I knew it was—” suddenly his mouth was dry and his throat was sore, he glanced back at the screens one last time. Nothing. “I knew something would go wrong. I felt it. It’s my job to keep them safe and I couldn’t-I couldn’t even—”

All at once it hit him: Alice being lost, his sister, his parents being lost to the grey plague, losing his home, losing his friends, and all the other runners who didn’t come back. He’d been told they weren’t his fault either, but…if he couldn’t keep them safe, what was the point of him? What was the point of trying? The weird thing was he couldn’t even cry. He knew he should, he felt like he was going to, but it just wouldn’t come. All he was left with was this numb feeling, like something had snapped in his brain and wouldn’t let him process the enormity of…of everything.

Locking eyes with Doctor Myers again he said, “Now. I’m going to stop now.” Gently he took off his headset and placed it on the desk. He stood up (was it him?) and put one foot in front of the other until he laid in his cot. Sam slept until the nightmares came again.


End file.
